Pulse Seismic Inc. Reports 2016 Results

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - March 7, 2017) - Pulse Seismic Inc. ("Pulse" or "the Company") (TSX:PSD)(OTCQX:PLSDF) is pleased to report its financial and operating results for the year ended December 31, 2016. The audited revenues were the same as the preliminary 2016 revenues announced in the Company's news release on February 3, 2017. The audited consolidated financial statements, accompanying notes and MD&A are being filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and will be available on Pulse's website at www.pulseseismic.com.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

• Seismic data library sales decreased by 32 percent year-over-year to $14.3 million in 2016 from $21.2 million in 2015;

• Total seismic revenue of $14.3 million consisted entirely of data library sales in 2016, compared to $24.4 million which included $3.2 million in participation survey revenue in 2015;

• The net loss increased to $7.5 million or ($0.13) per share basic and diluted for 2016 from a net loss of $5.3 million or ($0.09) per share basic and diluted for 2015;

• Cash EBITDA^(a) was $9.1 million, a 40 percent decrease from $15.1 million in 2015, and a 41 percent decrease on a per-share basis to $0.16 per share basic and diluted from $0.27 per share basic and diluted in 2015;

• Shareholder free cash flow^(a) was $9.0 million, a 39 percent decrease from $14.7 million in 2015, and a 38 percent decrease on a per-share basis to $0.16 per share basic and diluted from $0.26 per share basic and diluted in 2015;

• Pulse purchased and cancelled, through its normal course issuer bid, a total of 341,272 common shares at a total cost of approximately $786,000 (average cost of $2.30 per common share including commissions);

• No dividends were paid in 2016 whereas three quarterly dividends of $0.02 per share totalling $3.4 million were paid in 2015. The Company suspended its regular quarterly dividend in November 2015;

• At December 31, 2016 the Company was debt-free and had a cash balance of $5.8 million, compared to its December 31, 2015 position of owing $222,000 on its operating line of credit, with no long-term debt or cash balance;

• On January 26, 2016 the Company acquired approximately 107,000 net kilometres of 2D seismic data and 58 net square kilometres of 3D data. The data acquired is spread throughout the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. The purchase price of $3.65 million was funded through the issuance of 669,643 common shares, plus $2.15 million in cash.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

• Seismic data library sales decreased by 52% to $4.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, from $8.8 million in the same period of 2015;

• The net loss was $1.3 million or ($0.02) per share basic and diluted compared to net earnings of $658,000 or $0.01 per share basic and diluted in the fourth quarter of 2015;

• Cash EBITDA was $3.0 million, a decrease of 57% from $7.0 million in the same period in 2015, and a 62% decrease to $0.05 per share basic and diluted compared to $0.13 per share basic and diluted in the fourth quarter of 2015;

• Shareholder free cash flow was also $3.0 million or $0.05 per share basic and diluted compared to $7.0 million or $0.12 per share basic and diluted in the fourth quarter of 2015;

• On December 13, 2016 the Company extended its revolving credit facility for an additional year. The three-year revolving credit facility's maturity date was extended to February 13, 2020; and
• On December 19, 2016 the Company renewed its normal course issuer bid (NCIB) to purchase up to 3,493,536 common shares over the following year.

SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING INFORMATION

FINANCIAL POSITION AND RATIO

^(a) The Company's continuous disclosure documents provide discussion and analysis of "cash EBITDA", "cash EBITDA per share", "shareholder free cash flow" and "shareholder free cash flow per share". These financial measures do not have standard definitions prescribed by IFRS and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies. The Company has included these non-GAAP financial measures because management, investors, analysts and others use them as measures of the Company's financial performance. The Company's definition of cash EBITDA is cash available for interest payments, cash taxes if applicable, repayment of debt, purchase of its shares, discretionary capital expenditures and the payment of dividends (if applicable), and is calculated as earnings (loss) from operations before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization less participation survey revenue, plus any non-cash and non-recurring expenses. Cash EBITDA excludes participation survey revenue as these funds are directly used to fund specific participation surveys and this revenue is not available for discretionary capital expenditures. The Company believes cash EBITDA assists investors in comparing Pulse's results on a consistent basis without regard to participation survey revenue and non-cash items, such as depreciation and amortization, which can vary significantly depending on accounting methods or non-operating factors such as historical cost. Cash EBITDA per share is defined as cash EBITDA divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period. Shareholder free cash flow further refines the calculation of capital available to invest in growing the Company's 2D and 3D seismic data library, to repay debt, to purchase its common shares and to pay dividends (if applicable) by deducting non-discretionary expenditures from cash EBITDA. Non-discretionary expenditures are defined as debt financing costs (net of deferred financing expenses amortized in the current period) and current tax provisions. Shareholder free cash flow per share is defined as shareholder free cash flow divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period.

These non-GAAP financial measures are defined, calculated and reconciled to the nearest GAAP financial measures in the Management's Discussion and Analysis.

OUTLOOK

Pulse is more optimistic than one year ago but is not predicting an imminent rebound in its business. Signs for medium to longer-term optimism are observed in various industry benchmarks and activities.

At US$53.83 per bbl WTI as of March 1, crude oil prices are up by more than 100 percent from their lows one year ago and, supported by the recent OPEC supply cut and global demand growth, are forecast to hold in the US$50-$60 per barrel range. At Cdn$2.49 per mcf at AECO as of March 1, natural gas prices remain relatively weak, but gas demand continues to grow and North America's long supply glut is tightening.

U.S. natural gas storage has declined from well outside the five-year weekly averages to near the middle of the five-year weekly range. U.S. LNG exports are averaging 2.2 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day and, with multiple new LNG export facilities under construction, are forecast to grow significantly over the next number of years. In Canada, the first LNG export project has received its final investment decision. The new U.S. Administration's restart of the Keystone XL pipeline will facilitate growth in Canada's oil exports and reduce price differentials.

The active rig count in the U.S. has increased by several hundred, while oil and natural gas field activity in Alberta is at a two-and-a-half-year high, encouraged by favourable new royalty rates. Spending on mineral rights has increased year-over-year, with $98.2 million in bonus bids in Alberta and B.C. by the end of February, compared to $16.76 million at the same time last year. In January, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada increased its drilling forecast by nearly 1,000 wells to 5,200 wells for 2017. Additional outside capital appears to be flowing into the oil and gas industry, including through a number of recent initial public offerings, signalling optimism among operators and investors.

Pulse's revenue visibility remains poor. The Company believes that a recovery in its data library sales depends on materially increased capital investment and higher field activity on a sustained basis. Accordingly, Pulse anticipates the possibility of continued weakness for the short term, followed by a gradual and/or extended recovery.

Pulse is positioned to grow. Pulse is debt-free, with cash reserves, unutilized credit facilities, an experienced management team and Board of Directors, annual cash costs below $6 million, and a valuable, competitive and technically high-quality asset - its seismic data library. Pulse continues to be a pure-play seismic data provider with the goal to become the largest licensable seismic dataset in Western Canada.

CORPORATE UPDATE

The Company is pleased to announce that Mr. Paul Crilly will be nominated for election to its Board of Directors at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 10, 2017. Mr. Crilly has over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas field services industry, including senior management experience in the seismic acquisition industry.

In addition, Mr. Peter Burnham is retiring from the Board and will not be standing for re-election in 2017. Pulse thanks Mr. Burnham for his valued contributions over the past 5 years.

YEAR END 2016 CONFERENCE CALL

Pulse will hold a conference call on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. MST (1:00 p.m. EST) where Neal Coleman, President and CEO and Pamela Wicks, VP Finance and CFO will discuss the Company's 2016 results. A question-and-answer period will follow an update on the Company's strategy and outlook.

To participate please dial 416-340-2216 (local - Calgary) or 1-800-377-0758 (toll free - North America) approximately 10 minutes before the commencement of the call.

An archival recording of the conference call will be available approximately one hour after the completion of the call until March 22, 2017. To access the replay, please dial 905-694-9451 or 1-800-408-3053 and enter the playback pass code 4982114.

CORPORATE PROFILE

Pulse is a market leader in the acquisition, marketing and licensing of 2D and 3D seismic data to the western Canadian energy sector. Pulse owns the second-largest licensable seismic data library in Canada, currently consisting of approximately 28,600 square kilometres of 3D seismic and 447,000 kilometres of 2D seismic. The library extensively covers the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin where most of Canada's oil and natural gas exploration and development occur.

This document contains information that constitutes "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation.

The Outlook section contains forward-looking information which includes, among other things, statements regarding:

• Pulse is more optimistic than one year ago but is not predicting an imminent rebound in its business;
• Pulse anticipates the possibility of continued weakness for the short term, followed by a gradual and/or extended recovery;
• Pulse's capital allocation strategy;
• Pulse's dividend policy;
• Oil and natural gas prices;
• Oil and natural gas drilling activity and land sales activity;
• Oil and natural gas company capital budgets;
• Future demand for seismic data;
• Future seismic data sales;
• Future demand for participation surveys;
• Pulse's business and growth strategy; and
• Other expectations, beliefs, plans, goals, objectives, assumptions, information and statements about possible future events, conditions, results and performance.

Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to vary and in some instances to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Pulse does not publish specific financial goals or otherwise provide guidance, due to the inherently poor visibility of seismic revenue.

The material risk factors include, without limitation:

• Oil and natural gas prices;
• The demand for seismic data and participation surveys;
• The pricing of data library license sales;
• Relicensing (change-of-control) fees and partner copy sales;
• Cybersecurity;
• The level of pre-funding of participation surveys, and the Company's ability to make subsequent data library sales from such participation surveys;
• The Company's ability to complete participation surveys on time and within budget;
• Environmental, health and safety risks;
• Federal and provincial government laws and regulations, including those pertaining to taxation, royalty rates, environmental protection and safety;
• Competition;
• Dependence on qualified seismic field contractors;
• Dependence on key management, operations and marketing personnel;
• The loss of seismic data;
• Protection of intellectual property rights; and
• The introduction of new products.

The foregoing list is not exhaustive. Additional information on these risks and other factors which could affect the Company's operations and financial results is included under "Risk Factors" of the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2016. Forward-looking information is based on the assumptions, expectations, estimates and opinions of the Company's management at the time the information is presented.